


Tonight's Final Words

by ladylangst



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Langst, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-03-24 14:23:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13813029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladylangst/pseuds/ladylangst
Summary: Shiro messes up big time at a Coalition event. Can he make it up to Lance and help the other paladin feel accepted? It might be too late, unless Shiro can see past his own biases and see Lance for who he really is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters or places.
> 
> Hi! I really hope that you like it!

Lance smiles as Shiro begins to close up his speech. The aliens around them are all listening intently, their eyes are filled with hope. It makes Lance happy to be a part of something this important, and tonight he’ll finally get to express that to everyone out in the crowd.

Lance shifts and prepares to stand, his moment is coming soon and he can’t wait. Three weeks ago, when Shiro proposed the idea for an inspirational presentation, Lance had been overjoyed. Shiro promised him that he’d be allowed to close the ceremony with a small speech of his own. Lance has been planning it since, he even had Coran proof-read it several times! And now, it’s his time. 

He closes his eyes as he hears Shiro start to introduce him… “Now to close up our night we’re going to have one of the paladins speak to you about what it truly means to be a part of Voltron,” Lance starts to stand, “Keith, you can come up now.”

Lance freezes in place, his expression reflecting his shock. 

Did- did Shiro just say Keith? Lance looks up in time to see Keith taking the mic with a smile towards the crowd. His mouth opens to begin the speech, but Lance doesn’t hear it. ‘What happened? Did Shiro forget him?’ Lance sits back down as subtly as he can. His face is so red that it matches Keith’s old lion.

His mind can’t seem to accept what’s happening right now. 'Why is Keith making the speech? He already did a weapons demo…’ Lance sinks lower in his seat. It’s fine, it really is, he didn’t work that hard on his speech. It’s fine. Lance doesn’t care. Really. His eyes start to water, but it’s fine.

Lance really shouldn’t have expected anything different anyways. Of course Keith should be the one to make the speech, he's actually a part of the team, Lance wouldn’t have made a good speech anyways. It’s fine.

His eyes raise again just in time to see Keith hand the mic back to Shiro, the applause of the crowd is deafening. 

The lights come back on in the auditorium and the aliens all begin to leave, chattering as they go.

Lance jolts when he feels a hand land on is shoulder. He raises his head to meet Coran’s worried gaze.

“Lance, are you okay? I have no idea what happened, I even reminded Shiro before the opening that you were going to close up! This is ridiculous! I’ll go ream him out, don’t worry, we’ll get this sorted out!”

Lance smiles weakly at his mentor’s outraged expression. “It’s fine Coran, I’m sure Keith gave a better speech anyways. Don’t bother Shiro over something so silly.”

Coran’s face drops instantly, it’s replaced by a concerned soft one. “But you worked on that speech for weeks, Lance, it isn’t right that he did that, I could just-”

“No. It’s fine, really.”

Lance can tell that Coran doesn’t believe him, but that doesn’t matter. He stands and walks past the Altean. His head held high. Lance really is fine. 

He just hopes that no one notices his tears.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you like it so far!

Coran stares after Lance as he walks quickly to the small transport waiting to take them back to the castle. His eyes just catch the shine of tears on the paladin’s face before he’s out of sight. Coran’s eyes narrow and he turns towards the small group of aliens surrounding Shiro and Keith. 

They don’t turn to greet him as he approaches, but Coran steps directly in front of the black paladin, stopping him from continuing his conversation. Shiro takes a startled step back and looks at the Altean in confusion.

“Coran? Is something wrong?” Shiro asks.

Coran turns a shade redder and grabs Shiro by the arm, effectively dragging him away from the other aliens. He turns to face Shiro, who now has a miffed expression on his face.

“Coran really. if something is the matter-”

Coran cuts him off. “You bet there’s something wrong! What was that up there Shiro? You are the black paladin, the leader of Voltron, and you completely disregarded one of your paladins in favor of another. Not only was your decision bad for the team, but for the image that we are trying to present to the universe!”

Shiro stares at Coran wide-eyed. “What- What are you talking about? I thought that it went wonderfully?”

“What happened? You completely disregarded Lance, whom you told could close with a speech of his own, and replaced him with Keith, who had already done a weapons demonstration!” Coran growls at him.

Shiro is back to looking annoyed again. “Lance wasn’t prepared to give a speech. We need to leave a good impression on the citizens, and him goofing off and making jokes isn’t going to cut it. I took him off of the program to benefit the team as a whole.” he says.

Coran’s face is almost turning purple in his rage. “Lance has been preparing his speech since the night you told him that he could do it!He has asked me to proof-read it several times, and each time it has been even better than before!He was extremely excited about this. Lance already feels as if he isn’t really part of the team, and what you just did did not help at all. You better make this right Black Paladin, or team Voltron will be without a leader.”

With that Coran turns and strides towards the shuttle, leaving Shiro in shocked silence.

What is Coran talking about?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope that you like it!!!

Shiro paces restlessly outside of Lance’s room, his thoughts are whirling about his mind rapidly. Is Coran right? Did Lance really work hard on his speech? He hasn’t ever seemed serious about being a part of the team before, but maybe that’s just Shiro’s own bias?

Shiro sighs and runs a hand through his fringe. Lance doesn’t exactly have the best track record though. Yeah, sure, he has helped out sometimes, but not enough to warrant being trusted with such an important speech.

Shiro nods at his reasoning and turns on his heel again.

Though he feels bad about snubbing Lance, Shiro really does believe that he made the best decision. Coran is biased, and that speech was really important to the team as a whole. Then again, Lance is a part of the team, even if he slacks off.

Shiro groans and stops pacing. Is he being biased as well? He has known Keith for years, and he only just met Lance. He could be letting pre-conceived notions about the blue paladin cloud his judgment of Lance. 

Lance had seemed really excited about the speech, and if he did work as Coran said he did… well, then Shiro would have an awful lot to apologize for. He thinks back on Lance’s expression when Shiro called Keith instead of him. It wasn’t anger or annoyance, but shock and resignation.

Had Shiro really made a member of his team feel as if he didn’t belong? Yes, he had. Shiro looks at Lance’s door with regret. He should have let Lance do the speech, he had told him he could. And Lance was obviously really excited about it. 

Shiro has to find a way to fix this. He needs to be a better leader, and that means making sure that all of the paladins feel as if they belong on the team. He glances at Lance’s door one last time before striding back down the hall towards his own room. 

A smile flits across his face as an idea pops into his head “That just might work…”


	4. Chapter 4

Shiro lifts his hand to knock on the door, but hesitates. What if Lance is too distraught to see him right now? Will this make it worse? Shiro drops his hand and groans. This is harder than he thought it would be. Everything is harder than he expects. He knows that he needs to man-up though.

His arm rises almost of its own accord to rap gently at Lance’s door. It’s silent for a minute and Shiro begins to shift nervously in place. He’s about to knock again when Lance calls out softly from behind the door.

“Coran, I told you I was fine. Please go awa-” The door slides open and Lance stops mid sentence. His shock shows clearly on his face. Shiro feels extremely guilty when he notices the tear streaks on his teammate’s face.

“H-hi Shiro.” Lance says after an awkward pause. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

Shiro smiles sadly and shakes his head. “No, I’m actually here to talk to you. Can I come in?”

Lance nods and steps aside. “Of course! I’m sorry that it’s super messy. I wasn’t really expecting anyone in my room.”

Shiro doesn’t think that Lance needs to apologize at all. He wanders over to lance’s bed and sits down, patting the place next to him for Lance. Once both of them are sitting he clears his throat and turns to stare Lance in the eye.

“I’m sorry Lance. I’m so sorry that I had Keith present the speech instead of you. It wasn’t right. I was biased by my own perception of you and that’s not okay. Coran let me know how hard you worked on the speech. I’ve been an awful team leader to exclude you, and I wasted all of your hard work. I wanted to know if you could forgive me?” Shiro asks.

Lance stares at him even more shocked than before. “I forgive you Shiro, It’s okay. I understand why you did it. I don’t exactly come off as the most responsible person. Thank you for apologizing though.”

“Thank you Lance. Though, I’m going to have to disagree with you. It’s not okay. Despite how you may come off, you are a member of this team. The Blue Lion chose you for a reason Lance, and I was being stupid to ignore that. So, to make up for what happened, I want you to come on a mission with me.”

“A… Mission?” Lance asks, dazed.

“Yes. In two days we will be landing on a planet that recently managed to beat the Galra on their own. They have incredible resources and they would be a great ally for Voltron. It’s a diplomatic mission to get them to join us. I was instructed to pick one paladin to come with me. I want that paladin to be you.”

Lance leaps across the bed and wraps Shiro in a hug. His voice is slightly teary, but Shiro can hear him okay when he says: “Thank you so much Shiro! Thank you! I can’t wait! Thank you!!!”

Shiro smiles warmly and hugs Lance back. “No need to thank me Lance. You deserve this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Last chapter! I really hope that you like it!


End file.
